Book Review – The Declaration

I really enjoyed The Declaration. I think it has a really cool premise, and I absolutely could not put it down.

Also that cover! Isn’t that the most gorgeous cover?! And it fits the book really well. And it’s beautiful.
I just keep looking at the cover. Instead of the things I should be looking at. Like this blog post.
Seriously though, what would you rather look at? That cover? Or the boring place on WordPress where you write posts?

Obviously the book.

So I’m now going to put the lovely cover in. Instead of waiting until the end, when I normally put in pictures. And hope it doesn’t completely mess up my formatting.

Also, I’m so sorry I haven’t been posting a lot lately, but I’m away right now, and I’ve been super busy. I will try to get back to posting a bit more regularly once I get back in a couple days.

Setting

This book has a dystopian setting. I don’t normally like dystopians very much, but The Declaration had a really interesting, unique premise.

Basically, they have this drug called Longevity, that stops people from aging. But you aren’t allowed to have children, so that they have enough resources for the people who are already there.
Of course some people have children anyways. Those children are called Surpluses, and they’re basically raised to be servants.

I think the world was developed well. It could have been done better, but it was pretty well developed. I understood it, and I could believe it. Actually, I think it was sort of scarily believable. Because that would NOT be a nice world to live in. At all.

Plot

So our MC Anna, is a Surplus. She grew up in the hall where they train Surpluses,* and she’s just hoping to end up working for someone who’s at least somewhat kind.

Then a boy shows up. He’s spent his whole life free, only getting caught now, at Anna’s age. He tells her about the Outside, and tries to convince her to escape with him.

One thing, (this has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, but there wasn’t anywhere better to put it) is that it starts with a really long journal entry. It’s a tiny bit tedious, but just push through it, and then the book is great.

*And by ‘train’ I mean try to make them into mindless servants.

Characters

The characters in this book didn’t particularly stand out to me. They were good enough, they just weren’t anything special.

Anna – Although Anna didn’t really stand out to me, I thought she was well developed. In the beginning she was very obedient, trying to be a perfect Surplus. She hated her parents for breaking the law, and she was ashamed of herself for existing.
As the story went on, however, and she learned more about her parents, and the world in general, she started to change her mind.

Peter – Peter was definitely my favourite character in this. He was fierce, and stubborn, and always getting into trouble. He’s the one who tries to convince Anna to escape with him, and he’s honestly sort of great.

Sheila – She’s an interesting character, she technically isn’t a Surplus, but she is treated like one, and nobody quite believes her when she says she isn’t. She’s a couple years younger than Anna, and she gets picked on a lot. There were some interesting developments with her character in the end, and I’m really curious where it’s going with her character.

Over All

The Declaration is quite a good book, I loved the setting, and the characters were well developed. I would highly recommend this book, even if you don’t normally like dystopian.

Have you read The Declaration? If so, what did you think? Isn’t that a beautiful cover?!

oh, what a unique premise!! this sounds super interesting and, like you said, scary believable. it’s kind of where ethics and overpopulation clash. like yeah, the human population is expanding crazy fast and we have nowhere else to go (i’m holding out for a home on the moon), but is it ethical to tell people they can’t have children?? and if they do, what are the consequences? AH i’m getting both Brave New World and Delirium vibes!! I don’t know what’s causing the delirium vibes, but i’m feeling them!
that IS a gorgeous cover, and i am secretly lusting after it.
xx